Gaza militants fire at least one rocket towards Israel: army

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Militants in the Gaza Strip launched at least one rocket towards Israel on Tuesday which landed in open ground near a community close to the Palestinian enclave, the Israeli military and police said.

There were no initial reports of injuries or damage.

Rocket launchings have become an almost weekly occurrence from the Hamas-controlled coastal strip recently but no militant group took immediate responsibility for the strike.

A group that sympathizes with al Qaeda, who have defied Hamas, have been blamed for other recent strikes, none of which caused injuries or damage.

Israel has responded to previous rocket launchings with retaliatory air strikes but an army spokeswoman was unaware if any action had been taken following Tuesday's rocket.

The border area had largely been quiet since last year's July-August war, when Palestinian militants launched thousands of rockets and mortar bombs into Israel and Israeli shelling and air strikes battered the enclave.

More than 2,100 Palestinians died, mainly civilians, while 67 soldiers and six civilians were killed on the Israeli side.